I breathe the most polluted air in Latin America!

Everything's okay. Just breathe don't breathe!

Ever since I started working for a company specializing in air quality, curiosity has gotten the best of me, as always. So I began doing some research regarding the air I breathe, how it's kept clean, and how it can be potentially contaminated.. after reading a printed news report that El Norte (prestigious news agency of the Reforma news group in Mexico) released about a week ago,  -only to find out I was living in the most polluted city in Latin America. I wanted to gasp, but then realized I would be gasping my city's toxic air. So instead I sighed... and not of relief.

If you know a bit about Mexico, you might know that the capital, Mexico City is the most polluted city in Latin America. Let me tell you something: not anymore.

That's right, according to the United Nation's Environment Programme (UNEP) another Mexican city has topped the chart and embraced the shameful title of "Most polluted city in Latin America". But that's not all, this mysterious city that we speak of also ranks number one in having the worst and most life-threatening air quality in the country, informs the World Health Organization (WHO). Let's cut to the chase...

Welcome to Monterrey, Mexico.

Latin America's most polluted city.

On December 2015, the State Government declared an environmental emergency in  Monterrey due to the extremely poor air quality.

Don't let the beautiful mountains and high peaks distract you, the only things peaking in this city are the levels of contaminating particle matter (PM). These are divided into two main categories: PM 2.5 (particle matters smaller than 2.5 microns (μ) , a unit of measurement just like inches, meters and miles) and PM 10 (particle matters smaller than 10 microns). Any particle matter smaller than 10 microns is considered to be more heath-damaging than larger particles, basically because they can enter your body more easily, and without notice. Just to give you an idea of what size a micron is, I've created a simple yet understandable comparison chart below:

Even though there are many other pollutants out there, PM is the most harmful to human beings. The mixed liquid and solid components of these particles consists of sulfates, nitrates, ammonia, sodium chlorides, black carbons, mineral dust and water. 

Chronic exposure to these particles contributes to the risk of developing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and even lung cancer.

The World Health Organization has established guidelines in order to promote a gradual shift from higher to lower concentrations of contaminating particle matters. 

Now you know what PM are, how small they can be, what they are made up of and the harm they can cause human beings... so why is Monterrey such a dangerous place to breathe in? Because it exceeds the WHO's standard for safe air quality, specially on the most dangerous particles, those smaller than 2.5 microns (PM 2.5). A live investigation made in Monterrey, broadcasted on live television revealed that the Downton Monterrey area surpassed the 24-hour mean of PM 2.5 by almost 4000 times the standard. Other municipalities outside the metropolitan capital had much more to be worried about, as they showed even higher amounts of PM's. The most polluted municipalities in Monterrey, in order of rank, were Santa Catarina, Downtown Monterrey and San Pedro. These were the shocking results:

A Study showed that the average human being inhales around 13 to 23 cubic meters of air on a daily basis. If we take the daily inhaled amount of air by a human and the daily air pollution of Monterrey (or one of its neighboring municipalities) and divide this by one thousand (to convert micrograms to milligrams), the rounded up result would be of 23 mg of inhaled PM 2.5 per day. To give you an idea of what this represents, and knowing that a cigarette contains around 12 mg of PM 2.5 (based on the same study), this would mean that:

The average Monterrey citizen inhales about 23 mg of PM 2.5, the equivalent of smoking 2 cigarettes per day.

Remember that this is based on the average human being, meaning that athletes or hyperactive beings risk more harm, due to them breathing larger amounts of air. Athletes are harmed even more than those of us who don't play any sports or exercise on a regular basis... the irony!

Okay so.. why is Monterrey so polluted?

 The capital city of the state of Nuevo León didn't earn the shameful first place of "Most Polluted City in Latin America" all of a sudden. Experts say that this has been a scaling problem back since the year 2000, where particle matters started rising, says El Norte.

In the last 15 years, Monterrey has not complied with the WHO's Air Quality Guidelines.

Known to be Mexico's manufacturing powerhouse, Monterrey has been growing exponentially for the last 15 years, and has no intention of stopping. Most of the Nation's companies are strategically established here like Vitro, Alfa, Cemex, Femsa;  as for foreign corporations seeking maquiladoras. As if the contaminating waste from these industries wasn't enough, some of the main problems ranking Monterrey number one in Latin America for unhealthy air quality are:

• Limestone extraction.

One of the main problems resulting in the spreading of airborne PM's are the limestone-extracting corporations creating ecocide by the overexploitation of resources. These aren't being supervised nor monitored by environmental authorities, and don't account for regulating standards to prevent further environmental damage. As if extracting limestone from the mountains surrounding the Santa Catarina municipality (the most polluted in Monterrey) and killing trees along the way wasn't harmful enough, cargo trucks transporting the product throughout the city have been in charge of spreading dust and particles whilst delivering the product elsewhere. Experts insist that this process must have a certain protocol to prevent airborne particles from spreading. These include the placement of canvases around the area of extraction and spraying the cargo trucks wet to prevent particles form flying all over the place.

• Excessive, constant and unsupervised growth.

The city keeps on growing, there are no boundaries... literally. Be it houses, shopping centers, companies or skyscrapers, Monterrey has proven that it has the ability to build these developments even if it means playing the same game that the limestone-extracting corporations play: ecocide. Mountains seem to be "shrinking" as the years pass, mainly due to the construction of residential subdivisions on the base. The problem is that since the mountains' bases are already fully occupied (or destroyed), the only solution is to build above the already build developments. It seems that the sky is literally the limit.

San Pedro, is not only the third most polluted municipality in Monterrey, it's also considered richest one; housing Mexico's and Latin America's millionaires, politicians and socialites with the highest per capita income nationwide. In fact, 80% of it's population holds the most amount of economic resources in Latin America, says national news group La Crónica.  This municipality is where you'll find most of Monterrey's luxury shopping centers, nightclubs, restaurants, built skyscrapers, and those undergoing construction. These massive developments are generating uncontrolled PM's that are being dispersed all over the city, creating clouds of dust that hide the same constructions being worked on. San Pedro is considered to be Mexico's "model city". Sadly, the model we're looking up to has much to be said about. The image below from the news reporting video that took the PM 2.5 and PM 10 measurements I mentioned earlier on shows skyscraper developments being built alongside the municipality's main avenues: Vasconcelos and Ricardo Margain.

• Transportation

The growth of houses, apartment complexes, commercial compounds and living developments in general has brought an increase of population to Monterrey. With this, an increase of vehicles has the streets of the capital urging for extra space, and the air begging for a break.

According to the data provided by the Mexican Institute for Vehicle Control (Instituto de Control Vehicular) there is 1 vehicle for every 2.5 people in the state of Nuevo León, where most of the vehicles circulate within the city of Monterrey and surrounding municipalities.

San Pedro has 5 times more vehicles for every 100 people, in comparison to New York City and Tokyo

In the case of the San Pedro municipality, data changes enormously due to the powerful economy it's population holds. For every 100 people here, there are 105 vehicles. You're probably thinking that this number doesn't seem exaggerated, that this looks like a normal amount. Well, I thought so too, until I compared the amount of vehicles owned in San Pedro to the amount of vehicles owned in other well-known major metropolitan cities around the world. The data provided by El Horizonte was quite impressive to me:

Even though San Pedro stands out to be the richest city/municipality in Latin America, one could have never guessed that car ownership was greater than huge cities like New York and London. Below, a comparison of Monterrey and it's neighboring cities/municipalities showing owned vehicles, per 100 people.

Experts say automobiles are the main source of PM 2.5, exceeding by far the amount produced by industries.

The problem gets worse when you put together the fact that in Monterrey, cars emit 5 times more hydrocarbons than cities with more vehicular circulation, like Mexico City. This is due to the fact that 70% of vehicles in Monterrey have been on the road for over 10 years, reports SEMARNAT, Mexican Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources. This includes public transportation vehicles that do't have guidelines as to vehicle operation, years of use, sustainability, among others. It's very simple: the older the car, the more it contributes to generating polluting particles and harming the environment.

Images below show the congested avenues of Monterrey by day and by night, where the urge for promoting better public transportation, new measures and road design is needed. 

What is the solution for Monterrey and other cities suffering from Low Air Quality?

First of all, it's getting the word out. A problem can't be solved when the problem isn't known. Take the population of Monterrey for example: I'm pretty sure if one of them is reading this now, they would be as shocked as I was at the beginning. A study made by El Poder del Consumidor (The Power of The Consumer) revealed that 84% of Monterrey's citizens have no idea as to where to find information or data regarding the air quality of their city. The lack of knowledge is bad, but its worse when there's no data to be shown, which brings me to my next point:

The government needs to get involved. Today, there is no available information regarding the air quality citizens breathe in their city. In fact, if you visit the official website for the State of Nuevo León, you'll find an error message under the "Air Quality Report" section that translates to: "We're sorry, the page you are looking for doesn't exist.. we invite you to look at our other sections". So I looked around in other sections and was somewhat relieved, in a strange way, that the Government is at least accepting and displaying that :

"Heart disease, cancer and strokes are slightly more common in Nuevo León than in the rest of the country"

Remember: these are the main diseases that are caused by breathing polluted air with high quantities of PM2.5 and PM10.. It all adds up.

The city's green areas are concentrated in it's mountains, the same mountains that are being shredded down to build houses and commerces. Since the city has a "desert-like" weather and no more "free" space, it's difficult for new green areas to be developed by the population, let alone grow on their own.

Ecologists insist that Monterrey is in urgent need of 1 million trees in order to compensate for the environmental damage it has willingly caused over the past few years.

Local ecologists say that the city is in need of 1 million trees in order to even out the environmental damage it has promoted. This would be the equivalent of developing 120 green areas similar to the one of Parque Fundidora (Fundidora Park).

The image below shows concerned citizens taking matters into their own hands, drilling holes in the streets of Downtown Monterrey, in order to reforest the city's heart.

Experts warn that if Monterrey doesn't develop a strategic plan in order to improve the city's air quality, the population will be forced to used a protective mask around their mouths to prevent polluting particles from entering their bodies, specially since 80% - 90% of PM2.5 and PM10 enter and stay in the body, passing from the lungs into the bloodstream, causing cancer, cardiopulmonary diseases and in the long-term; even death, said Stephan Brodziak, Air Quality Investigator for Poder del Consumidor. 

Solutions are in reach, they may be hard to obtain but are not impossible. Not addressing this crisis would be a crime against ourselves. Both government and state must start acting today, because tomorrow it might just be too late. Renewable energy, cleaner modes of public and private transportation, research and constant monitoring of the air, the creation, improvement and implementation of local guidelines to follow, and in cases; punish those individuals, industries and corporations participating in the ecocide and abolishment of the city's resources, only to continue afterwards with its population.

What are you doing to breathe a better tomorrow?

Feel free to share this if you live in Monterrey or simply want to create awareness. Check the Air Quality of your town, city, state or country here: Real-time Air Quality Index Visual Map